Page 4A
THE BEACON
June 2018
Hoosier Hills Encourages Literacy For All- One Book at a Time
Continued from page 1A
have free education, free
tutoring. We also offer certi-
fications so students can get
a CDL, they can get certifica-
tion in welding, Med-Assist,
hospitality - there are all kinds
of certifications they can get
… and if you’re in school or
working, we offer free child-
care.”
Mrs. Geglein says, says,
“That’s a problem - business-
es are hiring people who don’t
have high school diplomas
because they’re so short on
employees. So we’ve been
going to the businesses and
saying please don’t hire them,
or if you do, make it contin-
gent on them getting a high
school education.”
According to Literacy
Partners, 36 million adults
in America need help with
literacy, but only 3 million of
them will actually receive it.
And illiteracy is expensive,
costing individuals and busi-
nesses $20 billion each year.
Mrs. Geglein urges the
public to help combat il-
literacy. She says, “If they
know of anyone who can’t
read or doesn’t have a high
school diploma, please refer
them to us. Illiteracy costs
money; there are statistics
on what it costs in healthcare
because people take their own
prescription incorrectly, or
they give their kids the wrong
dose; what it costs in financial
literacy when they don’t know
how to balance a checkbook
and bounce checks. When
parents don’t read, they can’t
read to their kids … and their
children are going to suffer,
they’re going to lag behind in
the schools - and these kids
who can’t read, they’re being
pushed through the schools.”
Mrs. Priebe recruits tu-
tors and welcomes students
struggling with foundational
literacy. She says, “I have
students that are English Lan-
guage Learners, and some-
times it’s not ESL [English as
a Second Language] or third
or fourth. I have a Russian
woman, and she knows four
or five languages already.
There are young ladies from
Asia who met their husbands
online and are here studying.
They are married to these
American born people, and
they are smart as a whip …
They know what they want
to do … their challenges are
cultural, not intellectual.”
Mrs. Geglein says, “I have
a Jamaican student, and I
have a tutor who is starting to
work with a Venezuelan girl,
and I’m going to have a tutor
working with a lady from
India.”
Students range from el-
ementary school-age to the
octogenarian gentleman who
received tutoring at a lo-
cal rest home. “Tutors can
request age groups - we’re not
going to put you with some-
one you’re not comfortable
with,” Mrs. Priebe says. “The
demographics of our clientele
include everything, so our tu-
tor training deals with strate-
gies to help individuals who
have undiagnosed learning
disabilities, coping skills.”
Hoosier Hills Literacy
League works with women
in the JCAP program to make
spiral bound picture books for
their families using donated
materials. Based on the book
I Love You the Purplest, these
mothers write about the ways
they love their children. Mrs.
Priebe says, “They thought of
things that reminded them of
their children. These books
are their personal thing.”
Seventy-five percent of state
prison inmates do not have a
high school diploma or can be
classified as low literate. Mrs.
Priebe says, “In 2017, we
touched 50 adults, and that in-
cludes jail independent study
… We haven’t had anybody
recently; as you can imagine
it’s hard to do your homework
when you’re in the jail, but
we had some really dedicated
individuals.
“I go over there once
a month face to face, and
weekly I give them assign-
ments, so yes, that’s really
independent study. Several of
them did make progress, and
then, if they were transferred
to prison, I contact the State
Prison where they can bypass
some of the initial testing, and
if they’re released, I’ve got
their address and I try to refer
them to whatever organiza-
tion, send them information,
but it’s up to them to follow
through. There are so many
different components.”
Mrs. Priebe says, “Our cli-
entele is not always consistent
in attendance, so even when
we’ve got the attention of
someone who wants to tutor,
we might have no students. Or
Leaving an English Language Learners class are Nhung
Russell, Qingfa Wagner and Tam Rodmaker. Photo by
Laura Priebe.
Laura Priebe, Literacy Ad-
ministrator, and Janice Lay,
a Hoosier Hills Literacy
League student, attend a
recent United Way event.
United Way of Greater
Cincinnati is the founder for
the Adult Literacy program.
Photo by Laura Priebe.
I’ve got students but no trained
tutors because when some-
one wants to volunteer, they
want to be busy now, and you
can’t say well we don’t have
anybody, because they’ll find
something else.” But anyone
dedicated to volunteering with
literacy can take online train-
ing, broken into 15-20 minute,
topic-focused modules.
There are many ways to
contribute besides tutoring:
donating school supplies and
gift cards or volunteering
as a guest speaker for Adult
Education classes. Families
Tracy Geglein, Adult Liter-
acy Coordinator with River
Valley Resources. Photo by
Susan Ray.
can enjoy literacy scavenger
hunts, and the annual Vil-
lage Lights Bookstore/River
Valley Resources bake sale in
downtown Madison. In Dear-
born County, game nights and
Scrabble tournaments at Great
Crescent Brewery are fun
ways to support literacy. The
second of three HHLL silent
auctions gets underway on
June 7th in the Aurora Public
Library, coming to a close
after children’s singer/
Continued on page 5A
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